In the 1930’s the world faced a world wide
great depression…
There was poverty and
unrest. Many felt that a
“communist” government
might hold answers to
relieve the misery…
Others turn to fascist dictators.
Both Communist governments and Fascist
governments practiced
TOTALITARIANISM.
Totalitarianism means: Total
control.
Control over people’s
lives
Control over what they
read
Control over where they
work
Control over political
In Germany and
Italy, people gave
up their personal
freedoms for the
economic
prosperity and
national glory
that Hitler and
Mussolini
offered them.
In Russia, Stalin
was forcing the
Communist
system on the
people. When
the farmers of
the Ukraine
rebelled, he
starved them to
death.
In Spain, the
government would
face a test when
force on the
“right” who were
anti-communist,
would face those
on the “left.”
This clash became a civil war, which cost
Spain billions of dollars and hundreds of
thousands of lives.
The war should have ended early
on…but outside “dictators” sent support.
Who were those dictators?
Yes. Hitler and Mussolini supported
the right, and Stalin supported the left.
For these
dictators, it was
an opportunity
to “test” their
weapons,
including tanks
and planes, and
see how they
worked.
Many other nations
wanted to fight for the
two sides—some
Americans included--but
all came unofficially to
support the side that they
believed was right.
The side on the
right were called
NATIONALIST
S and the side on
the left were
called
REPUBLICANS
Those who were on the left
were also against the power of
the Catholic church. As a
result, thousands of nuns and
priests were slaughtered.
Hitler sent his famous “Condor Legion.” This was a
group of skilled pilots with new planes that were
skilled at dive bombing..
They bombed
the city of
Guernica and
slaughtered
the
inhabitants.
Women and
children were
killed….
A group of women and children. They were
lifted high into the air, maybe 20 feet or so,
and they started to break up. Legs, arms,
heads, and bits and pieces flying
everywhere.
Pablo Picasso, a
Spanish painter,
chose to use
this bombing of
the town as the
theme for a
very large
painting.
The painting is almost the size of one wall
of your classroom. It is done in black,
grey, and white.
The images are startling. Picasso tried to be
secretive about the painting’s meaning…but we
have clues about why he included certain
drawings.
He had made drawings earlier where he did
explain their meanings…
Guernica took
months to paint.
It was displayed
in Paris. Let’s
take a look at
some of the
symbolism…
The Bull in the painting is a symbol of
Spain. The bull “observes” the
destruction in front of him.
The fallen warrior is from the legend of Parsifal—
whose sword breaks in half at the crucial moment of
battle.
The fallen warrior is also laid out in
a crucifix position…
The slashes on the horse are representative of
newsprint—the newspaper that lists those who have
died.
The light in the middle of the painting may
mean violence…
There are terrible
images—a woman
holding a dead child.
A person burning in a fire…
Some say that Picasso painting an open
door so that he could “escape” from
the violence.
Guernica has come to be one of the most
famous paintings of our modern age--
The Spanish Civil War ended when the
National troops won. Hitler and Mussolini
began to work closer together as dictators.
Mussolini “allowed” Hitler to
move into Austria…
Two years later, World War II began
when Hitler attacked Poland.
But Spain did not join with Hitler’s
Germany, even though Hitler had
helped the national troops in their
Spanish Civil War.
The leader of Spain, Franco, insisted
that Spain remain independent and
neutral…
So Spain did not go through the devastation of
World War II—Franco died in 1975.
Anwhat about Guernica—well, after it was
showed in Paris, it was seen in other places,
then it was sent to New York City, where it
remained. BUT IT WAS NOT
RETURNED TO SPAIN!!
Picasso said it should only return to Spain when
Franco died. When Franco died, the canvas was rolled
up and sent back to Spain.
In 1981, Guernica was finally sent back to
Spain. There it can be seen today…a
masterpiece of modern painting.
The image is still used today to protest war
and the destruction that war brings…
Soft Construction with Boiled Beans
(Premonition of Civil War) (1936)


Apainting by Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí.
Depicted is a grimacing dismembered figure
symbolic of the Spanish state in civil war,
alternately grasping upward at itself and
holding itself down underfoot, a relationship
morbidly prescient of Escher's laterDrawing
Hands (1948). The painting resides at
the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The painting, which was painted in 1936, is
used to show the struggle of war that can
sometimes be both self-fulfilling and selfmutilating at the same time. Despite his
support of General Franco, Dalí was openly
against war, and used this painting to show it.
The boiled beans may refer to the
ancient Catalan offering to the gods. The little
man in the bottom left corner is a
representation of the astonishing, aweinspiring spirits contained in the souls of
Anneke and Nikki van Lugo, childhood friends
and muses of Dalí.
Long-term causes of the
Spanish civil War
1. Weakness of government
Spain was a constitutional
monarchy
The king was head of state
PM commanded a majority in the
parliament(Cortes)
Cortes- elected by the male
population, real power held by
wealthy oligarchs
Two main parties- Conservatives
and Liberals
Elections were rigged or decided by
corruption
Long-term causes-role of the
Spanish army
It had a powerful political position
It was the protector of the nation
Had the right and duty to intervene
in politics if a crisis occurred
It did not intervene to save the
king< exile
Its intervention in 1936 lead to civil
war
Long-term causes- role of the
church
Catholic church was rich and
powerful in Spain
Disputes between church and state
State guaranteed the church- role in
education and elements of the
economy
It had immense wealth and used it
to gain considerable political and
social influence
It used its power to supportsocial,
political andeconomic
conservatism and opposed
modernizing and liberal forces
Aristocracy closely tied to the
church,made up vast majority of
senior clergy and provided much of
the funding
Map of Spain
It defended rights and status of the
upper class which led to
resentment among the poor
Urban areas- protest against the
church
Economic causes
Plight of agricultural workers was a
key factor leading to the discontent
of the peasants
Agricultural economy but did not
provide sufficient food and work
was only seasonal- led to
migration, poverty, gap between the
rich and poor was large
Centre and south of Spain- land
was owned by Grandees who
dominated the political system
In the north peasants owned small
lands – did not provide adequate
living
Rioting and disorder broke
Civil Guards deployed to repress
any disorder.
No support from church
Some groups looked to anarchists
who argued for redistribution of
land
Catholic Agrarian Federation
provided support for farmers in
return for their rejection of socialist
ideas
Anarchism is a political
philosophy which considers
the state undesirable, unnecessary,
and harmful, and instead promotes
a stateless society, or anarchy. It
seeks to diminish or even
abolish authority in the conduct of
human relations
Industrial- need for modernisation
and reform
Expansion was limited by endemic
poverty
Workers faces low wages, long
hours, unregulated working
conditions , poor housing
Led to trade unionsionism- trade
unions competed with each other
They failed to achieve anything
substantial
Worker’s political parties had no
real power
Thus violent uprising appealed to
many
Spain was neutral in WW1
A period of economic boomexports increase
But also inflation and shortages, so
living standards went downworking class militancy increased
Violent conflicts between
employers and employees
(Catalonia)
Role of the Regions
 Ongoing struggle
between the
centralist state and
Catalonia and the
Basques provinces
wanted
decentralization and
independence as
they had their own
separate languages
Primo De Rivera took back the and culture,
self-governing rights of
industrialized
Catalonia
economies and
churches
Political opposition
 Moderate
socialists led by
Indalecio prieto
 Radicals led by
Largo Caballero
Anarchists were major political
group –
Demanded redistribution of land,
revelutionary methods, boycotted
democratic process, their trade
union –CNT was active in
organizing strikes and protests
More extreme faction perpetrated
bombings and assassinations
Fall of monarchy, establishment
of the Republic
Military defeat in Morocco, postWW1 Depression led to the fall of
monarchy(King Alfonso XIII)
De Rivera established an
authoritarian right-wing regime.
Started various infra-structure
programmes for railways, roads
and electrification, irrigation
schemes.
Industrial production increased the
output to three times
He ended war with morocco in 1925
Failure of the Republic
Massive debts
Alienated powerful elementslandowners and army
He resigned in 1930
Re-elections – coalition
parties(republicans, liberals,
socialists and Catalans)
The wishes of the left alarmed those
on the right and vice versa. Political
infighting was in danger of pushing
Spain into social revolution.
The middle ground in Spain’s
parliament – the socialists and middleclass radicals – did try to resolve
outstanding problems.
 In January 1932, a number of army officers
tried to overthrow the government lead by
Manuel Azana, the prime minister. The
attempt was unsuccessful as the army, for
now, was loyal to the government – after all,
it had won the elections fairly and,
therefore, had legitimacy. However, a new
political party was formed called the Ceda.
This was a right wing party dedicated to
protecting the authority of the Roman
Catholic Church and landlords.
 The government of Azana, having lost support from
the right, also lost support from the left. Two
powerful left wing political parties, the anarchists
and syndicalists (powerful trade union groups), felt
that Azana’s government was too middle of the
road. Both wanted a more communistic state and
the overthrow of capitalism. Above all, Azana was
despised for forming a political union with the
middle ground in Spain’s political life. He was
deemed to have betrayed the working class. The
extreme left organised strikes and riots in an effort
to destabilise the government of Azana.
Matters came to a head when in
January 1933, 25 people were killed
by government troops who were
attempting to catch some anarchists
near Cadiz. This lost the government
a great deal of support among the
working class and the socialists
withdrew their support from the
government. Azana resigned as prime
minister and elections were called for
November 1933.
In this election, the right wing won a
majority of support and the largest
party in the parliament (known as the
Cortes), was the Ceda lead by Gil
Robles.
 The new right wing government
immediately over-turned all of the changes
brought in by the Azana government. This
angered many but especially the Catalans
who had their privileges withdrawn. This
was a serious error of judgement as the
Catalans and Basques had supported the
government in the elections. The way
ahead for Robles became clear to many –
an attack on the left wing parties of Spain.
It forced the many parties of the left to
come together to form the Popular
Front. They organised strikes, riots
and took part in acts of violence such
as derailing main line trains. In 1934
there was a general strike. Coal
miners in the Asturias went on strike
but were ruthlessly put down by the
army lead by General Franco.
Spain appeared to be heading for all
out chaos. In a last minute attempt to
avoid serious trouble, a general
election was called for February 1936.
In this election, the Popular Front won
and Azana, once again became prime
minister.
 However, the government of the Popular
Front was a farce after the socialists
withdrew their support from it; more and
more public disturbances occurred and the
government had clearly lost control of
Spain. In July 1936, a leading right wing
politician, Sotelo, was murdered and the
right wing politicians and their supporters
believed that they were now in serious
danger. They wanted to put their faith in a
military dictatorship.
 The military had, in fact, already made
preparations for a takeover of
Spain. General Franco assumed control of
the military. He took control of Spanish
Morocco after overthrowing the civilian
government there. His next target was to
invade mainland Spain, establish a military
government there and rid the country of all
those involved in left wing politics. The left
would have to fight for survival. The civil
war started in July 1936.